Plans for solar farm on former Desborough airfield approved

Stephanie Weaver

Plans for a solar farm on the site of a former airfield have been approved.

Members of Kettering Council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead for a solar photovoltaic park on the former Desborough airfield in Desborough Road, Stoke Albany, last night (Tuesday).

The plans state it will have up to 208,000 solar panels mounted on metal frames and positioned up to 2.5m above ground level.

Seven letters of objection had been received about the plans, with concerns including the site is very large and an unwelcome intrusion on the open countryside, solar farm sites should be in brownfield locations or on rooftops, loss of view and there is no local benefit from the proposal or local employment.

But despite the concerns raised, the planning officer’s recommendation was to approve the application and councillors went with this decision.

The airfield had been used by the Ministry of Defence during the Second World War to train Wellington bomber crews between 1943 and 1945.

After the war ended, the site remained in operational use in a civilian capacity until it was bought by the Rockingham Estate in the 1960s, at which time the airfield was closed.